CLEVELAND, OHIO, September 15, 2014: AlgiSys has contracted with World Class R&D centers in both the US and UK to develop its strain and fermentation process. “Our R&D team now provides full array of industry leading researchers and equipment not previously available from our other partners,” according to Dr. Charles Roe, Chief Technology Officer at AlgiSys.

Our new partner is among longest running agricultural and biological research organizations in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for more than 150 years. This facility supports around 550 scientists, staff, and Ph.D./postdoctoral students. This partner has extensive knowledge and expertise in developing new practices to increase bioprocess productivity and quality, and seeks to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for both food and energy production.They have amassed a world-leading team of scientists in the area of plant lipid engineering scientists, and their collective expertise puts them at the forefront of a global imperative to produce a viable terrestrial alternative to fish oils. One of the key applications for this work is to create a more sustainable source of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), which have been strongly linked with improved cardiovascular health and cognitive development. As well as the nutrition and health benefits, the production of plant-based methods to produce omega-3 LC-PUFAs may help reduce the problems for aquaculture companies who have to turn to less sustainable sources of omega-3 LC-PUFAs in fishmeal, as sea stocks of oily fish deplete. Current plant sources do not provide the right type of EPA omega-3 LC-PUFAs in the right quantities that are bioavailable to humans.

These researchers have delivered some of the key advances in the last 15 years, including the characterization of the omega-3 LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway and its heterologous reconstitution in certain transgenic plants. The Group Leader on the AlgiSys project remarked that "The current systems of using fish oil and meal in aquaculture means fish-farming is the very definition of unsustainability, and there is a real need to produce sustainable terrestrial sources of these healthy oils.” He further elaborated that “Although the AlgiSys strain is highly complex, we are confident that we have achieved the ability to bring this organism to pilot plant and commercial levels very soon.”

Since receiving initial funding, AlgiSys has made significant progress in the commercial scale up of its technology. CEO Michael LoPresti remarked, “Our funding partners have enabled us to accelerate our entry into the market and establish AlgiSys as a player in the vegetarian omega-3 market. To help ensure our success, we have developed state-of-the-art algal technology, assembled a world-class management team, identified contract manufacturing options, and established customer relationships in a market that is experiencing double digit annual growth.” AlgiSys was founded in 2009 by Mr. LoPresti and Dr. Roe to commercialize 12 years’ worth of algae research into the production of omega-3 fatty acids.